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Association between parental phubbing and adolescents’ depression: Roles of family cohesion and resilience

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  • Yu, Bin
  • Tong, Jing
  • Guo, Cheng

Abstract

Parental phubbing, which takes place during parent–child interactions, is defined as a new phenomenon wherein parents snub or neglect their children in social settings by concentrating on phone uses. Although previous research shows that parental phubbing positively predicts adolescents’ depression, the factors affecting this relationship remain unclear. Therefore, this study investigated the mediating role of family cohesion and the moderating role of resilience. In this study, 3337 Chinese junior and senior high school students from three cities (1589 girls; mean age = 16.21 years, SD = 1.04) completed measures on parental phubbing, family cohesion, resilience, and depression. The results showed that: parental phubbing was positively associated with depression; family cohesion partially mediated this relationship; resilience moderated the direct effect of parental phubbing on adolescents’ depression and mediating effect of family cohesion. Specifically, resilience weakened the relationship between parental phubbing and depression, and enhanced the relationships between parental phubbing and family cohesion, and between family cohesion and depression. This study clarifies the relationship between parental phubbing and depression and has implications for the prevention and intervention of depression among adolescents.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu, Bin & Tong, Jing & Guo, Cheng, 2025. "Association between parental phubbing and adolescents’ depression: Roles of family cohesion and resilience," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:169:y:2025:i:c:s0190740924006546
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.108082
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Meredith E. David & James A. Roberts, 2017. "Phubbed and Alone: Phone Snubbing, Social Exclusion, and Attachment to Social Media," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(2), pages 155-163.
    2. Wenqiang Sun & Dongping Li & Wei Zhang & Zhenzhou Bao & Yanhui Wang, 2015. "Family Material Hardship and Chinese Adolescents’ Problem Behaviors: A Moderated Mediation Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(5), pages 1-22, May.
    3. Tomczyk, Łukasz & Selmanagic-Lizde, Elma, 2018. "Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) among youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina — Scale and selected mechanisms," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 541-549.
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